The Power Within the Human Genome
Masakazu Yamaguchi brings to light the dangers of a controversial and powerful tool in his dark tale of Arm of Kannon (1998). Known by the title of Birth with its original release in Japan but changed with an English version when licensing went to Tokyopop. Yamaguchi himself is a primarily an ecchi author and artist and is lesser known in circles outside that realm. With a gorgeous art style and thriller battles, Arm of Kannon is one such title of his that pushes him out, and into a gruesome dark tale of Yamaguchi’s mind.
In volume 1 of Arm of Kannon, Mao and his sister Mayo are two students living with their mother. Mao finds himself quickly at the center of a brutal conflict between Garuma, a government corporation creating super soldiers, and a superhuman warrior from Isuragi able to cut the very fabric of space with his sword. Garuma is seeking the arm of Kannon, which rumors say comes from the Buddhist god of Senju Kannon. The arm allows the controller to overcome any foe by unlocking the hidden genetics deep within the human genome, transforming them into something with power beyond anything they can accomplish now.
Garuma and the Isuragi warrior are both seeking an archeologist that disappeared 3 years ago after finding the artifact. Mao’s father, Tozo Mikami is the man they seek, and he has returned to see Mao after these three years. Looking frail, thin, and ragged, Tozo shows his son pictures of the seemingly organic artifact as well as tells him what it has done to him. The arm takes control of a host and creates an undeniable desire thirst to kill and consume. The arm steals the very life force of the host and it needs a new host now. We see Tozo turn into a grotesque beast and the next thing we know is that the Isuragi warrior is standing over Mao ready to kill him. The arm found its next host in Mao. Garuma steps in with its super soldiers to fight off the warrior and run away with an unconscious Mao. While starving and thirsty, Mao is tested by Garuma, being pitting against monstrous creatures and the arm transforming him into something even worse than the beasts he was facing. The arm is tapping into the DNA of animals that is locked into our genome, just as Garuma attempts to do the same with its super soldiers. Unlike the arm the super soldiers have no control of when they will transform except by extreme injury. One such test made him greater than the sealed arena he was locked in, and allowing him to escape into the forest, but not before mutilating his captors. The Warrior stands restating his words of warning to not mess with this power, looking upon his fallen torn enemy and her ruined facility.
Genetics are playing a large part in this tale, and is a mystery that causes wonder to many people around the world. About a year before this series began we saw international new in the form of a sheep. Dolly was the first cloned sheep from an adult sheep cell. Now other clones had been accomplished but none that were as big as a sheep nor a mammal. This news caused waves across the world at the time it came out in February of 1997. This development in the field of genetics allowed for authors to take on new and exciting possibilities within the unknown of the human genome. Yamaguchi capitalized on this curiosity by creating this story that explored genetics, but his is a dark criticism of the dangers of messing with evolution and the darkness of governments seeking the ultimate soldier.
These agencies are truly out there and are seeking to create super soldiers. DARPA is one such agency located in the United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA was created during the height of the cold war. Seeking to create advance technology in a race to be the first with the biggest and best tech that the world has seen. Not as malicious or cruel as Garuma from Arm of Kannon, but with the same goal in trying to also create the best super soldier. You can see the results of their work in mechanized suits that allow for amplification of the capabilities of the human physique. Simply going to their website you can see ElectRx, they desire to create technology that can be implanted to amplify a person’s healing capability, or Neuro-FAST/CLARITY, where they want to improve understanding and function of the brain with technology or even recent genetic discoveries. Genetic modification to create super soldiers sounds quite similar to Garuma and their desire for an organic technology that can access and modify the use of genes in the human person. Now DARPA has done much good, things like; mechanized limbs controlled neurologically for amputees to have a replacement to lost limbs, protection and the advancement of internet and communication technology, and defense technology, just for a few examples. We hope that they stay ethical and don’t fall down the road as Garuma did seeking for the control of genetics, of evolution, and of the very idea of what humanity is.
The Arm of Kannon from the series is said to be this heavenly arm but in reality it turns out to be an organic living artifact that modifies its host’s DNA to access the locked genes allowing the host to overcome any obstacle in the goal of seeking nourishment. In reality we have found something that can help do this very modification and access of specific genes within a DNA sequence, a technology known as CRISPR. Genetic modifications are not new, and more specifically we have been doing them for quite some time. GMOs are genetically modified organisms that are often used in foods to add some kind of preservations or nutritional effect to them. It has also been used to create crops that become pest or pesticide resistant so has not to be harmed itself. There is much debate on these GMOs but that is a topic for another place. We have been able to genetically modify things for years, even decades, but it took thousands of dollars, mouths or years of time, as well as very little accuracy and success. CRISPR with Cas9 protein has changed all this and is leading to faster, cheaper, more accurate and successful technology and results. In Arm of Kannon we can see Garuma has been able to create some super soldiers but not without flaws and failure. They want a technology that will allow for greater and quicker control, as well as understanding; the Arm of Kannon. We have today found our Arm of Kannon in CRISPR.
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, known and easily said as CRISPR. These sequences were found a few decades ago within the DNA of E. Coli. At the time we had no idea what they were for nor why they were there. In more recent years we have found that they are actually leftover DNA from viruses that allow the bacteria to fend off virus invaders. It is able to do so because of a protein called Cas9. These two team up in the way to search and find a specific sequence on a viral strip of DNA or RNA and then are able to cut and render the genetic information useless. This ability to stop the viral DNA from inserting itself inspired the idea of using this organic technology to do the same with unwanted genetic sequences. Arm of Kannon brings up a very interesting concept with its ideas of genetically modified super soldiers. Back in 1998 it was closer to imagination but now with the revitalization of genetic modification through the discovery of CRISPR technology it is now in the realm of possibility. This graphic novel has also been revitalized by this genetic revolution that we are sitting at the top of waiting to see where the trip will take us.
In Arm of Kannon we see the dangers of the instability of genetic mutation and modification. Garuma seeks to control that power but in the ends loses to that power because they underestimated it. We see our protagonist Mao change from a normal human to an unknown monster, all because of a genetic altering organism. We too have a genetic altering organism that is within our grasp. We are in contact with it and it with us. Where do we draw the ethical line? In April 2015, there was news of Chinese scientist testing on human embryos changing genes. None were brought to fruition even though they had successfully modified the target gene. This news triggered much debate on the ethics and danger of this technology. It can affect any and all genetic sequences that it has its target for. The fear is what if it changes, it is and organic technology that can mutate. One mistake and we could have a genetic tool that could cut out an important life sustaining gene. Hopefully we maintain control but like Garuma it can all change on someone quite quickly, and then we have a killer abomination on the loose. Arm of Kannon also brings to light the idea of seeking power and military might through the creation of super soldiers, but will these soldiers have choice, will they even be human anymore?
Written in 1998, Arm of Kannon may have only been a fictional imaginative story about genetics and the fear of the power and control they have. Today those genetic capabilities have become a reality. Truly there is an organic genetic altering device in the CRISPR and Cas9 pairing that has great power and control of genes. Yamaguchi’s Arm of Kannon is relevant once again with the introduction of this new technology. This shines a new light on a dark story revealing a reality of possibility once left in imagination. Arm of Kannon has now become a critique of the dangers of such a powerful technology, hopefully in reading this story in may allow precautions and careful steps to be taken when dealing with the unknown of our own genetic code.
Works Cited
“Antibodies Part 1: CRISPR.” Radiolab. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://www.radiolab.org/story/antibodies-part-1-crispr/>.
“Breakthrough DNA Editor Borne of Bacteria | Quanta Magazine.” Quanta Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2015.
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Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group, n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nature.com/news/chinese-scientists-genetically-modify-human-embryos-1.17378>.
“Our Research.” Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://www.darpa.mil/our-research?ppl=viewall&PP=1>.
